In the Police murder/suicide affair
Chairman of the Police Complaints Authority and former Chancellor of the Judiciary, Cecil Kennard, yesterday told the Guyana Chronicle that he is in receipt of a complaint filed by Jenitta Daniels, mother of deceased policeman, Ivelaw Murray. Mr. Kennard added that he has sent a copy of the complaint to the Commissioner of Police, Henry Greene and is awaiting a full report on the matter.
He pointed out that at this point the Police Complaints Authority must wait until the investigation is completed and advice will be sought from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Mr. Kennard said the matter is a complicated one and Mrs. Daniels has expressed concerns regarding her son’s death and statements made by the Commissioner of Police.
Meanwhile, Police Crime Chief Seelall Persaud told the Guyana Chronicle that the matter is still being investigated and a file will be sent to the DPP for advice.
The Guyana Police Force (GPF) said on July 27, 2010 that investigations were continuing into the deaths of Assistant Superintendent (ASP) Ivelaw Murray and Constable Kevin Shepherd which occurred on July 4, at Springlands, Corentyne, Berbice.
A Police release said the Force’s handwriting expert has confirmed that the suicide note found in his bedroom on the day of his death was written by Murray.
The words said: “Sorry Mom. I love you and always will.”
The release also said the results of a test, conducted by the Police Forensics Department, revealed no trace of gunpowder residue on Murray’s hands.
The statement said the forensic analyst, Superintendent Stephen Greaves, explained that the presence of a significant amount of blood on each of the swabs taken from Murray’s hands made it unlikely that traces of gunpowder residue could have been detected.
Additionally, there is no guarantee that detectable quantities of gunpowder residue will be deposited on the hands each time a firearm is discharged, the Police said.
The statement said, in testing for gunpowder residue, the Police Forensic Laboratory utilises a combination of chemical examinations and the recently acquired laser induced breakdown spectroscopy.
Meanwhile Police Commissioner Henry Greene maintained that, based on information received, Murray and Shepherd were murder/suicide victims who shared a close relationship.
A Police release said Murray and Shepherd were involved in an argument in the Barrack Room at Springlands Police Station, from where a gunshot was heard.
The release said the Subordinate Officer-in-Charge of Traffic at the station went to ascertain what had happened and, as he was going up, he saw Murray hurriedly descending the stairs.
He asked what had happened and got no response from Murray who left the station compound; the Subordinate Officer (SO) proceeded upstairs to the Barrack Room where he found Shepherd with a gunshot wound to the head.
Checks were made but no spent shell was found at the scene and subsequent efforts, by senior Police officers, to contact Murray proved futile.
Later, though, ranks entered his home and discovered him lying on the floor of the living room with a gunshot wound below the chin and the Force’s service revolver in his hand, with three live rounds and three spent shells nearby.
The Police said it was confirmed that the gun was issued to Murray from the station and was sent to the Ballistics Section for testing while personnel from the Police Office of Professional Responsibility travelled to Berbice to assist with the investigations into the deaths.
Police Commissioner Henry Greene had said, based on information received, Murray and Shepherd were murder/suicide victims who shared a close relationship.
He expressing sadness at the tragedy and said the men were so close that Murray used to provide meals for Shepherd, while they were both stationed at Springlands.
Greene said Murray even allowed Shepherd to drive his car, visit his home and gave him privileges in the Enquiries Office, which he deemed “inappropriate conduct.”
The Commissioner said there is no law that says policemen cannot be friends and share a relationship at work but the GPF is not happy about what happened, although it cannot do more than it is already doing, in terms of training and mentoring ranks to work in accordance with the Standing Orders.
Jenitta Daniels, mother of dead Assistant Superintendent Ivelaw Murray said in an earlier interview that she is convinced that her son was murdered.
She said two firearms were used and she is in receipt of vital information about how he met his death at Springlands, Corentyne, Berbice.
She said she recently went to Springlands to uplift her son’s belongings but was advised that she cannot get his wedding band and his cellular phone, though the instrument is being used.
His television and video cassette recorder (VCR) is missing from his residence to which they only got access after making some calls to senior members of the GPF, following a “royal run-around,” she asserted.
According to her, after serving the GPF for 15 years, Murray was shot and killed like a dog and no one is willing to speak the truth about how he died.
She had demanded that he be granted a military funeral as he did not take his own life nor murder Kelvin Shepherd, as the Police are claiming.
Murray was not allowed a military funeral.
Daniels said, from information received, Murray was killed long before Constable Shepherd was in the Springlands Police Station barrack room.
“What is the Police hiding? Why is the truth being covered up so neatly? But we know what happened and how my son was murdered because he did not accept a bribe and made a pronouncement on a murder in Berbice,” the woman maintained.
Mrs. Daniels is of the opinion that her son was killed because he did not condone corruption that is being practised at the highest level in Berbice.
Daniels said she knows the names of the policemen involved in her son’s killing but does not have enough evidence to make a pronouncement before time reveals the truth.
The woman said her son was a qualified person who took pride in his work and dismissed statements that he was gay, noting that he had a baby daughter and a wife.
“He never displayed gay tendencies and I am sure my son was not gay. They just want to dirty his name,” she said.